ASCI’s kinship care process is carried out through our Point of Contact (POC) program, which assists kinship families in meeting Department of Public Welfare requirements. All services are conducted in a culturally responsive and informed manner, meeting families where they begin and operating from a strengths-based paradigm. Furthermore, ASCI’s case managers recognize the importance of families’ natural support and assist in fostering family connectivity.
When the Department of Human Services removes a child and places them with a relative caregiver, the case is referred to ASCI within four days for Foster Care Licensure. ASCI assigns a case manager and enters the home within 24 hours. ASCI’s intense 24-hour evaluation includes an orientation to services, safety assessment, identification of immediate needs, discussion of home safety, clothing and emergency fund allowance, discussion of discipline and review of available resources. There is a 60-day process to certify the family, which includes weekly home visits and the writing of an Individual Service Plan (ISP).
ASCI’s ISP is trauma-informed and kinship sensitive. It examines the strengths and needs in the areas of behavioral, educational, vocational, social, medical and psychological well-being. Upon certification, service delivery moves to case maintenance and includes monthly visitations, safety assessments and birth parent/sibling visitations. Educational, medical and dental monitoring also occurs.
Support services made available include respite, clinical services and support groups for all members of the triad. The ISP is reviewed throughout and permanency services are explored. ASCI’s case managers stress family-based decision-making, including the processes of Family Team Conferencing and Permanency Roundtable. Both tools guide the family into identifying resources that will sustain them and strengthen their capacity to assure safety, stability and permanency. ASCI’s strengths-based model recognizes that most of its children have been exposed to trauma, which has an impact on development, the ability to form relationships and the power to learn.